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by AlexaNDYE
Summary: Pepper is greeted with a surprise in her apartment after work. Post-Avengers; One-shot.


**A/N: So, i decided to write another one-shot (instead of studying for my math midterm). This one will be post-Avengers (After the Avengers).**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I'm just way too giddy and excited when it comes to Pepper and Tony.**

**Enjoy!**

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Pepper walked through the front door of her apartment with her purse in one hand and her phone in the other. Her black heels clicked against the hard wood flooring before she set her purse down on a nearby doorway table. Her shoulder was scrunched upwards to hold her phone against her ear while she rummaged through her purse.

"Yes, I will tell Mr. Stark when I see him." She said into the phone. She zipped up her purse and grabbed hold of her Blackberry.

Pepper switched her phone to her other ear and nodded to herself. "I will take note of that."

She rolled her eyes in annoyance and rested one hand on her hip. She was talking to a member of the Board of Directors about some huge paper that Tony was supposed to fill out a while ago, and she told him numerous times that Tony was busy (with Avengers stuff).

"I honestly haven't see him in—" She stopped half way when she saw a shadow walk out of her living room and into her field of vision.

Tony stood in front of her, sporting a nice black leather jacket, a pair of jeans and a grey cotton t-shirt. His stance was cool and casual and his hair was his usual. There were a few cuts near his eyebrow, but nothing too major – but just seeing those cuts made Pepper wonder about the rest of his body.

"—I'm going to have to call you back." She immediately ended the call; her arm dropped to her side with her phone in hand. "You're—"

"—Back?" He completed her sentence with a small smile. "Yep." He nodded. "Anything happen while I was gone?"

Pepper's mouth gapped; she was more than surprised than she thought when his sudden presence filled the air in addition to his distinct smell. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." He grinned. "Just got back – was wondering if you were at the office or at your place—"

She pressed her lips together and smiled. "You couldn't call?"

"It sounded like you were swamped." He gestured towards her recent phone call, while flashing his best smile that could easily melt a whole planet.

"That's never stopped you before." She grinned up at him.

"Yeah… well, I wanted to surprise you." He began to scratch the back of his head, unsure if his surprise appearance actually surprised her. The look on her face really didn't tell him much. He only observed the small upwards curve at the end of her lips, her solemn look.

"You've been gone for two weeks." She half whispered while her smile disappeared. Her gloomy look nearly broke his heart; his mouth gapped in response.

"W-Well—" He paused, unsure of what to say. "At least it wasn't a month?" He shrugged a little. He wasn't sure what she was frowning about. He stood right in front of her, in one piece and everything, and yet she still looked unsatisfied.

"Are you hungry?" She casually asked him, slipping her shoes off. Tony watched her movements; confusion was getting the best of him.

"Uh… Not really. Celebratory feast with the team happened before I flew back… that sort of stuff." He furrowed his eyebrows at her.

"I ordered some Chinese food on my way here, so if you're hungry, you're welcome to—"

"Pepper." He cut her off with a low whisper. "Did you even miss me?"

Pepper looked away and angrily pressed her lips together. "What kind of question is that, Tony?" When she looked back up at him, all he saw were her watered oceanic blue eyes; the same eyes that could easily keep a guy distracted for three long hours. But now, they were about to make his heart ache.

"Pep—"

"You've been gone for two _long_ weeks, and you don't even call me!" She practically shouted at him. He stood his ground and just stared at her in awe. "Have you even seen the news? It's been chaotic for the past five days. Sometimes, I didn't even want to go to work because I didn't want someone to come into my office telling me that you died." A lone tear was shed from each eye; that's when she looked away again.

Tony stepped towards her and quietly wrapped his arms around her. He pressed his cheek against the side of her head and kissed it. "I'm sorry." Her arms trailed up his shoulder blades; her hands latched onto his shoulders. She sniffed multiple times against his chest before taking a deep breath. He gently rubbed her shoulder to calm her down while she tightened her hold on him.

Ding dong.

Pepper turned around from their embrace and looked at the door, while Tony did the same. She turned her head to look up at him for a split second. She saw his gloomy expression and slowly unattached herself from him. He caught her hand with his and squeezed it ever so slightly. The heat from his hand made the butterflies in her stomach go absolutely nuts.

"Want me to get it?" He whispered to her.

"I can get it." She sniffed again. "It's probably the food I ordered." She regrettably let go of his hand.

Tony let his hand hang at his side while he watched her answer the door. He observed her every move; the way she answered the door with her left hand instead of her right hand. The way she put on a fake smile when the delivery boy greeted her, the way she handed him a twenty dollar bill with her right hand, and accepted the food with her left. The way she closed the front door with her back; he truly did miss her. God, he missed her so much.

"Here, I'll take that." He told her whilst grabbing the bag of food out of her arms.

He placed the food on the coffee table in the living room, right in front of the sofa. Pepper sat down, expecting to eat right away but Tony didn't unpack the bag. He plopped down on the sofa, right next to her.

"I'm sorry." He apologized again; their gazes suddenly locked onto each other's. "I didn't mean to do that to you. It's certainly no excuse for me to say that I didn't want to bother you these past couple weeks by constantly calling you. I've missed you, Pepper. I've missed you a lot."

She scooted closer to his side and latched onto his arm whilst resting her head on his shoulder. In a way, Tony took it that she forgave him, but it still felt like he had some making up to do.

"I'm just glad you're okay." She nuzzled her nose into his shoulder.

"Does this mean I'm off the hook?"

"No." She instantly replied, making Tony frown. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her against his side. She giggled as his face stopped mere centimeters from hers. He grinned like a fool and pressed a small kiss to her luscious lips. When he pulled away, he instantly saw her flash a wide grin.

"How about now?"

"Nope." She shook her head, and almost giggled at the same time.

Tony leaned in again and pressed a long and hard kiss to her lips. Pepper was quite sure she was going to end up in a coma one day because of his kisses. As an added bonus to their playful moment, he kissed her bottom lip before pulling away.

"Not even close." She giggled, pressing her forehead against his.

"Should I just keep trying?" He grinned.

"You _do_ have two weeks to make up for." She teased him lightly.

They came back to their food an hour later, only to realize that all of it had gotten cold.

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**Thanks for reading!**

**A/N: Reviews are like cookies for my muse! Get her fat! :)**


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